Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002

Against the backdrop of the worst state budget crunch in years, this report presents the findings of Cato Institute's sixth biennial fiscal policy report card on the nation's governors. The report card's grading is based on 17 objective measures of each governor's fiscal performance. Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades.This year, two governors receive the highest grade of A: Bill Owens of Colorado and Jeb Bush of Florida. Four governors receive the lowest grade of F: Gray Davis of California, Don Sundquist of Tennessee, Bob Taft of Ohio, and John Kitzhaber of Oregon.Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Stephen Slivinski, a former fiscal policy analyst at the Cato Institute, is director of tax and budget studies at the Goldwater Institute.The governors of some of America's most populous states and their grades are George Pataki of New York, B; George Ryan of Illinois, D; and John Engler of Michigan, B.State governments faced a combined budget gap of more than $40 billion in 2002, largely as a result of an overspending binge in the 1990s. Most governors will confront more tough budget choices in 2003. We hope that governors do not make the mistake of raising taxes to try to balance budgets, as many did in the economic slowdown of the early 1990s. Instead, by reducing spending and cutting tax rates, governors can return their states to fiscal and economic health. If they do, we will have many high grades to reward on the next Cato fiscal report card

Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2004

As states continue to claw their way out of the worst state budget hole in years, this report presents the findings of the Cato Institute's seventh biennial fiscal policy report card on the nation's governors. The report card's grading is based on 15 objective measures of fiscal performance. Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades. Our analysis shows that states that keep tax rates low and restrain spending growth have the best economic performance and thus the best longterm fiscal health.This year, four governors receive the grade of A: Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Craig Benson of New Hampshire, Bill Owens of Colorado, and Judy Martz of Montana. Four governors receive Fs for their poor performance in dealing with the state fiscal crisis: Bob Holden of Missouri, Bob Taft of Ohio, Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania, and James McGreevey of New Jersey.The grades of the governors of some of America's most populous states are Jeb Bush of Florida, B; George Pataki of New York, B; Rick Perry of Texas, B; and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, D

The Case against a Tennessee Income Tax

On November 2 the Tennessee legislature will convene a special session to debate reform of the state tax system. The center of the controversy is whether Tennessee should adopt a personal income tax, as proposed by Gov. Don Sundquist, to close an estimated $400 million budget shortfall. This study finds that a personal income tax in Tennessee would likely have two negative economic effects. First, an income tax would almost certainly reduce economic growth and job creation in the state. The absence of an income tax in Tennessee gives Tennessee a large competitive advantage over other states with which it competes for jobs and businesses. We find, for example, that Kentucky, a state very similar to Tennessee except that it has an income tax, has had considerably weaker economic performance since 1980. Between 1980 and 1998 the per capita economic growth rate of Tennessee was 47 percent compared to 36 percent in Kentucky. The second negative effect of a state income tax would be to trigger much faster growth in state expenditures. That has been the almost universal pattern in other states after they enacted a state income tax. Yet the premise of pro-income tax forces in Tennessee that the state's revenues have been growing too slowly is contradicted by the evidence. In the 1990s, even without an income tax, Tennessee's per capita tax receipts have grown 12th fastest among the 50 states. Tennessee's tax revenues have climbed at twice the rate of inflation plus population growth. The legislature should be cutting taxes, not introducing new ones

Thermodynamic evaluation of transonic compressor rotors using the finite volume approach

The development of a computational capability to handle viscous flow with an explicit time-marching method based on the finite volume approach is summarized. Emphasis is placed on the extensions to the computational procedure which allow the handling of shock induced separation and large regions of strong backflow. Appendices contain abstracts of papers and whole reports generated during the contract period

Reviewing the Statutory Union Recognition (ERA 1999)

In 2000 the UK government introduced, under the Employment Relations Act of 1999, a new statutory union recognition procedure, while in 2003 it published a consultation document on its Review of the Act. The document concluded that th eunion procedure was broadly working and confirmed that the government would not be changing the procedure's basic features, but outlined some changes that it was proposing and issues on which it sought opinions. This paper assesses, on the basis of the authors' research, whether the procedure is indeed achieving the government's consultative document. The latter was submitted as the authors' response to the review. The authors concur with the document¿s overall judgement that in the first three years of its operation, the procedure is working effectively. It is providing a right to union recognition where the majority of workers want it, encouraging the voluntary resolution of recognition disputes and being used as a last resort, whilst no judicial reviews have, as yet, undermined its operation as happened with the last statutory procedure in the 1990s. Nonetheless there are problems particularly relating to the ability of employers to influence both how the CAC uses its discretion and workers exercise their rights with respect to union recognition, whilst the applications are in the procedure and during recognition ballots. On the basis of this, the author¿s response to the consultative document gauges that many of its arguments for making only limited changes in the procedure¿s fundamentals are sound, as are those where change is envisaged. However, in certain areas more consideration should be given to change, and particularly of ways of limiting the actions of employers that the document concedes might be deemed ¿unfair labour practices¿.trade unions, collective bargaining

A Note on Cross-Border Mergers and Investment

The theoretical literature suggests that there should be a bi-directional relationship between investment and mergers. This essay uses homogenous and heterogeneous panel Granger causality tests to examine this hypothesis. The paper finds that in high-income countries, cross-border mergers tend to Granger cause investment, while in low- to middle-income countries, investment Granger causes mergers.Mergers, Investment, Causality, Panel Data